Ideas, resources, book reviews, and discussions especially for independent School Librarians.

Sunday, May 3, 2009

Alex Awards

I promote the Alex Award winners each year as summer reading suggestions to my 11th and 12th grade students. I usually read 5 of the ten winners, and I end up reading books I never would have picked up for myself. Last year my favorites were AmericanShaolin and Night Birds.

So far I have only read 2 of this year's winners. Actually I read one and a half. I started reading Sharp Teeth, and I can understand why people like it (my husband loved it), but it was just too violent for me. Usually I enjoy reading books set in Los Angeles, but in this case I didn't really connect with the book. But still I gave it to one of my students who is a voracious reader, thinking he may enjoy it. I see the appeal of the book - I just didn't get into it.

City of Thieves by David Benoff is another story entirely. I wasn't excited to read it (not another book about Nazis!), but I couldn't put it down! My husband reads a bunch of the books I bring home, so I have been handing him the Alex Award winners. He is currently devouring a third, which I haven't yet read. He read City of Thieves in one day. He was traveling to and from San Jose on business and the book kept his attention throughout his many hours at the airport. This exciting page-turner starts quickly, and although there is violence, there is also humor.Smallish and Jewish Lev finds himself on an improbable mission with Kolya, a strong, gregarious soldier accused of leaving his unit during the winter siege on Leningrad. If the two can find a dozen eggs and deliver them to a powerful colonel, their lives will be spared. In their long journey to find the elusive chickens or eggs, they encounter horrors of poverty and hunger, and the sincerity and loyalty of friendship. And along the way, they find out what it means to become men.

Do you have a favorite Alex Award winner? Which one should I read next?

About Me

I am the Head Librarian at Brentwood School, East Campus, the 7-12 grade campus of a K-12 co-ed independent school in Los Angeles. The views and opinions expressed on my blog are my own and not necessarily of my employer. Archipelago is a personal blog.

Why Archipelago?

An archipelago is a group of many islands. The independent school community is like an archipelago in that we are separate, and yet we are similar. We have our own libraries which are unique to our schools and independent from one another. We meet together, learn from each other, have associations and publications; we are like islands, and yet we form a group. I am proud to be a part of an amazing group of librarians. Through AISL and ALA ISS, and through local groups like Southern California's Independent School Library Exchange (ISLE), I learn, collaborate, share, and make friendships.